The myth of Tysons post prison skills...

The thing with Rooney was not that he was a great trainer - he was not - but he and Tyson clicked. Rooney also had an excellent understanding of the peekaboo style and was a direct link to the bygone days of Cus.
He had Tyson's respect and Tyson cooperated with Rooney. I think to be honest, Tyson would have had that exact same relationship with Teddy Atlas had they not had a falling out.

 

Agreed:thumbsup

 

Tyson realised his potential because he was found at the right time, got the best of everything and a lot of people put a lot of hard work into him. Tyson progressed too far too fast and the cracks were always going to show once things settled down. Keeping Tyson out of trouble was a full time job and easier to occupy him when he fought every two weeks. The downside was that no matter who was still alive or what team he had around him Tyson was always going to go off the rails as soon as he got the chance. But who is to say it would effect his boxing? Tyson was a fanatical trainer and student regardless of what was going in around him. There was possibly even more chaos going on than we know about when cus was alive.

 

Agreed. Tyson beat all those who the public regarded the next best heavyweights of the 1985-89 period and nobody can take that from him.

However, in reality Tucker and Douglas were the next best outside of Tyson for that period ...only nobody knew that at the time.

Tysons best wins were Tucker, Berbick, Bruno and Williams in that order because those were the guys who could still beat rated fighters when tyson fought them.

Douglas was a good fighter when he fought Tyson, he was among the best prepared of all his chalengers when you examine it. Douglas, Tyson and Tucker were the best of the period when you weigh it up. It is a pity for Tyson that both Buster and Tucker were possibly lower regarded than Thomas, spinks and Tubbs even though Douglas and Tucker were much better than either of those when Tyson fought them. Tucker got Douglas and Tyson back to back, we never got to see just how good those two really could have looked with better matching.

We never got to find out how good Biggs really was either because he kept having wars on the way up and never really got an easy fight after Tyson. Williams was as good as Thomas, Tubbs and Holmes when they fought Tyson. So the Williams win without Rooney cannot be dismissed.

Tucker and Douglas would each have beaten all the contenders, chalengers and champions that Tyson beat. Nobody would have guessed that Tucker v Douglas was the fight that decided the second best fighter of the 86-89 period.

 

he didn't like getting hit anymore. can you blame him?

 

:good

 

Agreed:good... Williams showed flashes of excellence especially in his early career he looked great in his 15 round fight with Larry Holmes which can easily be argued in his favor. A few bad losses especially the ones against Tyson and Weaver seemed to discourage him and derail his career. Tyson's win against him was legitment, it wasn't lucky but I feel if he didn't catch Williams with that big left early on he may have been in for a very tough fight also the stoppage was a little premature but that talk is pretty much nonsense because what happened -happened and for all we know Tyson may have took him out right away if the fight was allowed to continue so it was a very good victory for Tyson. No matter what point in Tyson's career his knockout power gave him the potential to score an early knock out against anyone if he caught them.

I'd also add Rudduck on as one of Tyson's greatest truimph's as at the time Tyson beat him Rudduck was on a roll and he was a very devastating puncher.

 

Personally I find all this excuse mongering sickening. The fight game has never had a gene pool of white collar middle class professionals as its apprentices. It is steeped in poverty and deprivation, misery and violent upbringings.

My take is there are millions of Tyson fans around the world who in the mid to late 80's were going around crowing " Fvck me man! boxing has a saviour. This guy has got it all, and he'll be better than Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Marciano, Louis, blah, blah, blah,,,,"

Then when it didn't pan out the way the WHOLE WORLD expected it to, they've spent the last however many years coming up with bull**** excuses, rather than simply admit the guy was nothing like they thought he would be, and they fvcked up by latching onto the hype.

 

tyson was nowhere near the same fighter after prison he was flat footed and had no stamina .

 

easy you dumb...handspeed and footspeed gone...timing..reflexes gone....just go look at tyson michael jack johnson...ya hes a bumb but watch tysons head and bounce to his legs...sumthing he didnt have after june 28 th 1991....

 

Everyone bangs on about Tyson not being in his prime and not in shape for Douglas, hell he was only 23! just think of how many times The Greatest didn't turn up fully prepared in his fights. Thing is, Ali found the will and a way to win, Tyson got ktfo!

 

The skills, reflexes and fighting ring intelligence all went south when the training intensity and will to fight declined

 

I have to be honest. As far as horse **** goes the above post is in a league of its own. Are you seriously trying to claim that a 25 year old, who has had 41 fights, with 36 inside the distance wins, who has boxed a total of 157 rounds is shot?

If so, you have taken idiocy to a new dimension.

 

You really isn't one to talk, who think Ali was at his best post exile. Where the difference is just as easy to spot.

So get off your high horse, for chrissakes, 'cause you have absolutely no right to it.

But of course he wasn't the same after prison.

 

u'd be an idiot to not think 3 years in prison sint going to affecvt your ability as an athlete.


so,who started this thread again?